Kendrick Lamar Drops Brand New Album: “untitled unmastered”

One of the best surprises has hit 2016. Kendrick Lamar has released his latest album untitled unmastered simply because Lebron James told him to; absurd right? But, who cares.

The tracks on untitled unmastered are all, unsurprisingly, untitled and unmastered. A total of eight tracks are on the release, each with a designated date. The beats are stellar and the lyrics impactful. My favorite track is “untitled 06.” It opens with a jazz groove and Kendrick keeps it real with backup vocals and a little singing from himself. “untitled 03” is also one of my favorites because of the comparisons between the “what did the Asian say,” “what did the Indian say,” “what the black man say” and “what the white man say.” Interestingly enough, “what the white man” has to say gets the most time on the track, clocking over a whole minute on a two and a half minute song.

So how did this even happen? Well, apparently Lebron James asked Kendrick Lamar to release a new album. So, he did. Anthony Tiffith, the chief executive of Lamar’s label, Top Dawg Entertainment, explained on twitter to “make sure y’all thank @kingjames.” Hell, if it was that easy, we just need Lebron to ask Frank Ocean to release his upcoming album.

One of the coolest things about this release is that everything is up to the listener to decide the quality of each piece. Since everything is untitled and unmastered, the quality boils down to its essence: lyrics and unmodified beats. For instance, both “untitled 02” and “untitled 08” open with the same sample. So how do you decide which one you’re going to like more? Listening intently.

You can listen to Kendrick Lamar’s untitled unmastered on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, and just about every other music streaming service.